North Korea warns of preemptive attack against U.S., South Korea

The North Korean military on Sunday warned the United States and South Korea against any attempt to stage a "special operation" to hit its leadership and military installations, including the nuclear arms base.

According to Xinhua news agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that it is ready to "mercilessly smash the enemy's moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack, now that the sinister aim of the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean War maniacs' 'special operation' to hurt the dignity of the DPRK's supreme leadership has become clear, and they disclosed even the dangerous attempt at 'preemptive attack.'"

It accused the United States and South Korea of being "busy staging madcap joint military drills for aggression involving more than 300,000 troops, U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and B-1B and other nuclear strategic assets."

"The situation has reached an extreme phase which should not be overlooked," the General Staff said in the statement.

North Korea has protested against the drills, calling them a rehearsal for war, and responded with a series of missile tests.

On March 13, combined forces of South Korea and the United States kicked off the annual command post exercise.